St. Charles moves to renew 22 late-night licences for bars

St. Charles liquor commissioners considered reducing operating hours for the most problematic downtown taverns Monday night but ultimately agreed to renew all 22 late-night licenses on the recommendation of Police Chief James Keegan.

Keegan cautioned commissioners against judging the taverns by the number of incidents because they don't necessarily reflect the number of actual citations meted out. Such judgment could result in taverns not calling police when they need help for fear of losing their licenses, he said.

“You never want to send a message to our proprietors that they don't need to call us, or they shouldn't call because there's a quota or numbering system about how many times we go to their establishments,” Keegan said.

For the first time, the liquor commission performed a bulk public review of all liquor licenses allowing service until 1 or 2 a.m. Out of the 22 St. Charles businesses with late-night liquor permits, four tallied double-digit police incidents the past 10 months.

On that list are businesses like Los Burritos, � Salute and McNally's, which tallied no police incidents between May 1, 2014, and March 6, 2015. However, the Alibi Bar and Grill, Alley 64, The Beehive and Filling Station all tallied 11 or more police incidents in that 10-month span.

Those numbers attracted the attention of liquor commissioners Bob Gehm and Maureen Lewis. They both entertained the idea of scaling back the closing time of those establishments from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m.

But Keegan explained the high numbers may be the result of the success of those taverns as much as their failures.

He said the taverns with the most incidents are in a particularly high traffic area where bar patrons congregate during closing time. Nearby public parking lots intensify those crowds. Keegan said those four taverns, which are clustered on Main Street, also seem to draw the most patrons on any given night.

Keegan said all the tavern owners have worked closely with him and the police department to address incidents as they've arisen.

Any move to punish establishments that were already fined or had their licenses suspended because of the enumerated incidents would be unjust “double jeopardy,” Mayor Ray Rogina said.

“What do we tell a licensee after we've given them a punishment of, say, a month of your permit being reduced from 2 o'clock to 1 o'clock, that now we're coming along and saying we're going to pound you over the head again, and we're going to take it away for a year?” Rogina said.

Having heard that, commissioners unanimously voted to renew all 22 late-night permits for another year.

The liquor commission's recommendation will now go to city aldermen for consideration.